Like most states, the backbone of Alabama is countless individual women and men who wake up and go to work on most days. Yet, like many other states, too few Alabamians with disabilities have this same opportunity to work and earn a living making a meaningful contribution to the economy.

Medicare Open Enrollment started on October 15 and will end on December 7. There are many resources available to help make Medicare and the process of signing up for it easier to understand.

How do most of us get our job? It is often through personal relationships and networking that we find out about openings or others connect us to a job of interest. Or, in other words, social capital is often the pathway to work.

As National Disability Employment Awareness Month closes, ACL is announcing Mentra as the $100,000 grand prize winner of the Inclusive Pipeline for American Businesses Challenge competition. 

Every October, we join residents and staff of long-term care facilities, state Long-Term Care Ombudsman programs, families, and advocates to celebrate Residents’ Rights Month. This month serves as an extra opportunity to celebrate, and increase awareness of, the rights that people living in long-term care facilities exercise every day.

The National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR) held a Grantee Stakeholder Meeting on October 20, 2021 at 1:00 pm ET.  Listen to the October 20 call. It is also captioned for accessibility.

What’s in today’s Policy Round Up? Updated CDC guidance on COVID-19 vaccine boosters and additional doses Call for comments on: Proposed rule that would prohibit payment of subminimum wages by nonprofits in the AbilityOne Program.  HHS Strategic Plan  FDA’s landmark proposal to improve access to hearing aid technology and proposed guidance on hearing aids and personal amplification devices New Department of Education resource for supporting student mental health

From U.S. Equal Employment Office Commission Chair Charlotte A. Burrows: Each October, the nation commemorates National Disability Employment Awareness Month to recognize the many contributions of persons with disabilities to our country’s economy and workplaces. In 1988, Congress first declared National Disability Employment Awareness Month, an extension of a week that had been celebrated since 1945, to raise awareness of the employment needs and contributions of individuals with all types of disabilities.  

This week is National Retirement Security Week, a chance for people of all ages to join together and raise awareness about the importance of saving for retirement -- especially for those who at greatest risk of financial insecurity.

Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched a new "one-stop shop" on Medicaid.gov to make it easy to access information about states' plans to enhance, expand, and strengthen home and community-based services using new Medicaid funding made available by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (ARP).